The Eighteenth Century
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The Eighteenth Century. Enlightenment & the Revolution. Authors: Cotton Mather Ben Franklin Themes Tradition & Change Humor Responses Group 3. “Enlightenment”. Term coined by human beings Implies people in prior periods were “in the dark” Also referred to as the “Age of Reason”
The Eighteenth Century
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Presentation Transcript
The Eighteenth Century Enlightenment & the Revolution
Authors: • Cotton Mather • Ben Franklin • Themes • Tradition & Change • Humor • Responses • Group 3
“Enlightenment” • Term coined by human beings • Implies people in prior periods were “in the dark” • Also referred to as the “Age of Reason” • Label for intellectual history more than social history & history of material culture • See Heath intro (565 ff)
Cotton Mather1663-1728 • Biographical sketch (507) • Literary overview (509) • Self-fashioning • Form—content--function
Form—content--function • Passages fromWonders of the Invisible World • [Devil Attacks the People of God] (509) • Stated Purposes (511) • Stated Perspective (511) • “Testimony” of children (512) • Memorandum (514)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Biographical sketch • Literary overview • (805-6)
“Witch Trial” & “Polly Baker” • Reflections of • 18th c. • Humor • Passages (814-815)
Humor:Form—content—function • Form: • Gross exaggeration • Roll reversal (the unexpected rather than the socially acceptable) • Recognizable reality • Function: • Entertainment (through escape from reality) • Social Change (through distorted vision of reality)
Next Time: • Group 4 Responses • Abstract: Sarah Wynn • No “selected poetry” • Sarah Kimble Knight’s Journal • Consider as: • Travel Narrative • Woman’s Narrative • Narrative of the 18th century
Reading Strategies • What marks it as “female”? • How does it compare to other “travel” accounts? • How does the humor “work”? • Select 3 passages: • What most surprises you? • What most confuses you? • What is the funniest part?